BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—The CSU Bakersfield baseball team (30-19-1) wraps up the 2015 regular season this week. The Roadrunners host No. 12 UC Santa Barbara Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
The Roadrunners will thank head coach Bill Kernen for his years of service to CSUB baseball by retiring his No. 17 prior to the start of Tuesday's game against UC Santa Barbara. This is the first number in any sport at CSUB to be retired.
"Coach Kernen has not yet decided if he is going to retire, but we wanted to take this opportunity to honor his dedication to the baseball program and the entire athletics department," said interim athletics director Ziggy Siegfried.
The only head coach the Roadrunners have ever known, Kernen has compiled a 190-193-1 record at CSU Bakersfield, winning the program's 150th game Apr. 21, 2014 (5-2) at Kansas State. He won his 400th game as a collegiate head coach against Sacramento State May 22, 2014 during the WAC Tournament. He is 430-347-4 on the collegiate sidelines.
The Gauchos are ranked 12th in Baseball America Top 25, 15th in the D1Baseball.com Top 25, and 23rd in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll to begin the week. UCSB is 18th in NCAA RPI poll to begin the week.
CSU Bakersfield defeated UC Santa Barbara 5-3 last Tuesday in Santa Barbara to take a 7-6 all-time series lead. After losing to CSUB on Tuesday, the Gauchos dropped 2-of-3 to Cal State Fullerton over the weekend in Big West Play. UCSB is 35-13-1. Cameron Newell leads the team in hitting (.384), home runs (3), and is second on the team in RBI's (26). The Gauchos have not named a Tuesday night starter. Steven Gee (R, 4-3, 2.77 ERA) will hit the hill for the Roadrunners.
The Roadrunners travel to Chicago State to conclude the season. The series begins Thursday at 6 p.m. (CDT) and continues Friday at 3 p.m. (CDT). The regular season concludes Saturday at 12 p.m. (CDT). CSUB swept a three-game series from the Cougars last season in Bakersfield in the first meetings between the two schools in baseball.
Chicago State is 12-38-1, 5-17-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. The Cougars have lost eight of their last nine, but did defeat Seattle U 7-4 in 10-innings last Saturday in Seattle. Chicago State is Matt Schmidt is the team's leading hitter (.331). Mattingly Romain paces the Cougars with seven home runs and 39 RBI's.
Chicago State is expected to send Eric Hall (R, 3-6, 6.13 ERA) to the hill to face Hayden Carter (R, 7-3, 2.48 ERA) on Friday. The Cougars should send Jake Perkins (R, 1-5, 4.15 ERA) out to face James Barragan (R, 7-3, 2.29 ERA) on Saturday. Sunday's finale should see CSU's Tyler Abbott (L, 1-6, 6.31 ERA) pitching against Nick Rogowski (3-5, 4.47 ERA).
Entering the final weekend of action, Grand Canyon (17-6) leads the Western Athletic Conference by 1.5 games over Seattle U (16-8) and two games over CSUB (15-8-1).
Sacramento State (15-9) is 2.5 games back in fourth place. North Dakota and Utah Valley are 4.5 games back at 13-11. Northern Colorado (12-12), New Mexico State (7-16-1), Chicago State (5-17-1), and Texas-Pan American (4-19-1) round out the standings.
All league games this week will be played Thursday-Saturday. In addition to the CSUB-Chicago State series, Grand Canyon is at Sacramento State. Seattle U hosts Northern Colorado. North Dakota is at New Mexico State while UTPA is at Utah Valley.
Grand Canyon is ineligible for the WAC Tournament as the 'Lopes continue their transition to Division I. SU and CSUB would receive the first round byes in the tournament that begins Wednesday May 20 in Mesa, Ariz.
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